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“Quilting” at Sea

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Quilters often ask me what makes a cruise a quilting cruise. Well it certainly isn’t that all 2500 people on the ship are making a quilt. But our group (which numbered 43 this trip) had fun with fabric, even if we didn’t do any stitching. The main focus of the trip is for people with a common interest to see wonderful sites, enjoy delicious food, socialize, shop and do some things with fabric too. We try to spend at least 1½ hours each day in class, working around shore excursions, meals, and on-board entertainment.

We began our most recent trip with a “prior to the cruise” project by inviting everyone to participate in a friendship exchange. We asked quilters to find a leaf shape of their choice either in their yard, in a book or on-line. I chose a maple leaf because this year is Canada’s Sesquicentennial,

but participants could pick any leaf they wanted. We had 32 quilters in the exchange, thus each of us chose an Autumn color batik and cut out 32 leaves with paper backed fusible web attached. Only 6 of us wanted them signed, so we asked everyone to do this to six of their leaves while on the ship and then we exchanged them. Here mine are laid out in a wreath.

Beautiful! I’m not sure if this is what they will become. The project option  I came up with prior to the trip was to scatter leaves across a windswept background with tulle shadows to add depth.

The next quilt related portion of our trip took place the first night on board. I shared a new lecture I call “Travel Memory Quilts”. I’m very excited about this new idea the Lord blessed me with. In essence, I distill each trip down to a favorite picture and create a single block to represent it using a variety of techniques. Each block is quilted and bound separately and they are attached to each other with a simple system of my own creation. In this way the “quilt” can be added to or rearranged with very little effort!

I’m working on other memory quilts using this technique and I’m pretty sure this is going to grow into something even more exciting. More information to follow!

During the trip Wendy gave two presentations. One on her method for making “batiked” scarves and another in which we each created a quilt label. Mine will go on my leaf quilt – whenever I get it done  😀 .

The main project on the trip was a fused block of the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.

I created the pattern from a picture and made up kits for the 33 travelers who chose to participate. I finished mine as a small wall quilt and added a few of the pins I collected while traveling. Here are pictures of class time aboard the Norwegian Dawn.

Mary and Jane were the first to finish theirs

And everyone got a block made. I can’t wait to see them all together at our post-trip gathering.

We combined traveling and quilting – it doesn’t get much better than that!

Quilters on the St. Lawrence River

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I just returned from our “Sew We Go – Quebec to Boston” quilting cruise. Wendy and I accompanied a group of 43 quilters, husbands, and traveling companions on a wonderful adventure during Canada’s sesquicentennial year!

It was a delightful group.

One of the greatest blessings of leading our Sew We Go adventures is traveling with happy people who share an interest in travel and quilting. In today’s post I’d like to share some pictures of just a few of our group enjoying themselves.

Like Alice and Karen in front of the St. Lawrence river on our first stop during the bus tour of Quebec City:

Or Jerry and Joyce near the hotel Le Chateau Frontenac, inside the walls of Old Quebec:

In this picture Jim, Mary Ann, Jacque, Will and I are enjoying the beauty of Montmorency Falls:

We also loved the company of Ritarose and Heidi in the atrium of the luxurious Norwegian Dawn:

Myrt, Evelyn and Ron soaked in the beautiful weather on the shores of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia:

and Mary and Jane were pleased to be the first to complete fusing together our onboard lighthouse project:

Everything went well because of our spectacular travel planner, Kristi, of Journeys and Gatherings (PS Happy Birthday Kristi!)

And then there was the food! I’m quite sure Ritarose and Lynn were feeling the joy while indulging in canollis from Modern Pastry in Boston:

Plus the fun of riding the water taxi in Boston Harbor with Linda and Alice.

I think it is obvious we were all having a fantastic time.

Please visit my blog during the coming weeks for posts on the inspiration and quilt related experiences we had along the way.

Wind Blown Compasses

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Have you ever entered a quilt into a contest in which it traveled for a period of time?

In 2015 I entered the Madison Quilt Expo’s “Fall Leaves” quilt challenge. Part of the entry agreement was the quilt would travel with the exhibit for two years. That’s a long time!

My quilt “Which Way Does the Wind Blow” arrived back on my doorstep this past week. What a joy to have it back and hang it up for Autumn!

This was the card that traveled with it.

The quilt got it’s name because I challenged myself to draft some of the leaves as oddly shaped mariner’s compasses using my “Compass Capers” technique (you can purchase a copy of my book at: https://www.chrisquilts.net/books/). Piecing the leaves was not difficult, but finishing the leafy edge took a bit of perseverance.

I lined the back of each leaf and stitched them to the quilt on the leaf veins (compass seams) resulting in a 3D effect. I liked the image of the windblown tree so much, I made a second quilt entitled “Autumn Dusk”.

This time the interesting effect was achieved by using an orange/black Pointillism fabric for the sky and water. This may not be the last time I make a quilt with this tree – perhaps there’ll be a series. Stay tuned :-).

Have you had a quilt travel? Please comment to this post and let us know!

Go Team!

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Even if you’re not a Packers fan, I’m sure you’ll get a smile out of the following story. Marilyn brought this wonderful t-shirt quilt to show and tell in my Open Lab last semester.It was beautifully made, but I decided to save this post until football season began, to make it more timely. The time has come and I’m pleased to share it. I asked Marilyn to write something about her quilt for the blog and here’s what she sent me:

“For My Husband? Absolutely Not!
My Lambeau Leap Quilt is only for those who love green and gold – that excludes my husband. However, my daughters, my granddaughters and a few of my sisters are big Packer fans and come to watch the game and snuggle under the quilt for good luck. This is dedicated to them. All of them had a hand in it. We all collected Packer t-shirts from our local Goodwill, which in turn helped others. So this is definitely a feel good blanket that gives us a warm feeling literally and figuratively.”

Marilyn did a wonderful job! When she showed it in class she told us all about collecting the t-shirts. Then I made the mistake of asking if she made it for her husband. She responded with the quilt’s title: “For My Husband? Absolutely Not! Followed by “he’s a Cowboys fan”! We all laughed at that one :-).

Have you made a fun quilt for your favorite team? Please send me a picture – I’d love to see it!

Looks like it’s going to be a good season. Go Pack!

 

 

Madison Quilt Expo – 2017

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This year’s Quilt Expo did not disappoint. The crowds were even bigger than last year! The quilts were spectacular! The vendors well stocked and oh, so tempting! What a great show!

I especially love immersing myself in the competition quilts. I enjoyed them all, and here are a few I found particularly captivating:

A Glimpse Through the Cattails by Julia Graber of Brooksville, MS
Rainbow Hosta Queen by Grace Kragness of Oak Creek, WI
The Engagement Photo by Nancy Carney of Verona, WI
Remembering Roatan by Pamela Kuck of Shawano, WI

When I wasn’t on the show floor admiring the quilts, I was sharing my passion for quilting in lectures and workshops. I’ve been invited to teach at the show every year since it began, praise the Lord! And the teaching kept me very busy this year (so busy I tended to forget to take pictures). Each morning at 8:30 I presented my lecture “Friendship Quilts – Then and Now”. The antique quilts and their stories were very well received and I hope the patterns I shared, along with the contemporary signature quilts themselves, inspired quite a few of those present to plan for a future autograph quilt of their own.

On Thursday and Saturday I taught 3 hour workshops on Beginning Fiber Art (formerly named Parallelisms). It’s such a joy to encourage quilters who haven’t done much artsy style quilting to give it a try. I just hope the students had as much fun as I did :-).

 

 

 

On Friday I shared my Seminole Sampler workshop to a full house. The students enjoyed the fact that the kit provided all the fabric strips cut and ready to sew.

A highlight of the class was having Delores show us the skirts and apron she had purchased from the Seminole Indians for her daughters.

She was kind enough to let me pose with the apron. Isn’t is lovely?

On Thursday night my roommate Laura and I were invited down the hall for a Tyvek™ painting/burning party.

Linda provided all the supplies and showed us how to make leaves with this fun technique.

Not bad for a first effort, and it was a lot of fun. Thanks Linda!

Spending time surrounded by quilts and quilting friends – it doesn’t get any better than this!

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And one more quick note for those of you in Southeastern Wisconsin. My friend Jodi told me about a “Quilter and Crafter Bonanza Sale” being held this weekend between Williams Bay and Elkhorn. Here’s the flyer she gave me:

Maybe I’ll see you there!

Seminole Piecing – Part 3

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Last week I shared a picture of 3 Seminole Indian dolls Tomi Fay Forbes brought to my Seminole workshop.

Just look at the lovely piecing in the skirts!

I asked Tomi to please share their story and she replied that she would do some research and send me what she found. Her research began: “When I was a little girl in the early 1960s my grandmother bought me three Seminole Indian dolls, each one outfitted in the dress of the Seminole Indians.” (pictured above)

Tomi continued with a 7 page research article, including sources, and it is well written and fascinating (if you would be interested in reading Tomi’s essay, please let me know and I’ll send it to you via email – I’m unable to post it in the blog). She tells of the history of the Seminole Indians and how the women began making patchwork and dolls, which they would trade for other goods. Here is an excerpt telling about the dolls:

“Foraging in the forests, the women collected palmetto fronds. The Seminole women were familiar with the traits of palmetto because they used palmetto and cypress to build their homes, called chickees. One palmetto plant provided enough material for about five dolls. The Seminole woman shaped the palmetto into a doll’s body, stuffing the body with more palmetto. She cut a round of cardboard and inserted it at the base of the body to give the doll a sturdy footing so it would not tip over. She then sewed a rough seam in the palmetto to retain the stuffing. She shaped the head and used thread to embroider eyes.

One would assume that the protruding ridge on the top of the doll’s head, covered with black cloth, represents a hat. It looks very much like a bonnet one would expect to see on an Amish doll. Not so. In the nineteenth century, the Seminole women pulled their hair back into a simple bun. With the acquisition of hair nets and hair pins from the traders, the buns grew in size and complexity. By the 1920s the Seminole women were combing their hair forward over their face, placing a roll of soft cloth across their hairline over their forehead, and combing their hair smoothly over the roll.

During the next two decades, the women competed as they developed complex hairdos held in place over rolls of fabric or hair boards.

 

Seminole doll-makers reflected their hair traditions by placing a piece of shaped cardboard over the crown of the doll’s head and covering it with black cloth. Today many Seminole dolls have braids rather than the black fabric head covering.

The Seminole woman then dressed the doll in the traditional cape and skirt. The clothing of the smaller six-inch dolls are decorated with rows of colorful rickrack. The larger 9.5 inch dolls will often have a tiny, intricate pieced pattern inserted in the skirt. Hence the name Seminole patchwork.

Finally, the seamstress gave the doll beaded earrings and tied rows of beads around its neck. Historically, the Seminole women proudly wore as many necklaces of genuine glass beads as they owned. A stack of multiple necklaces could fill the entire neck. Today we would find these necklaces heavy and cumbersome to wear. We would wonder if the women’s necks ached all the time.”

Tomi then included information about her grandfather and his history living in that portion of Florida. I am so grateful to have “the whole story”, but the icing on the cake was that Tomi told me of a doll available on Ebay! I wasted no time in making her my own!

Thank you so much Tomi!

I will be teaching this workshop at the Madison Quilt Expo next month – and the class is full!  If you’d like to learn how to do Seminole style piecing, and if you think my class on Seminole Piecing would be of interest to your quilt guild, please share my website, https://www.chrisquilts.net/classes/ with the program committee at your guild. Thanks!

Seminole Piecing – Part 2

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Two weeks ago I introduced one of my latest quilting fascinations – Seminole piecing. This week I’d like to share pictures from the class I taught on this technique at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts  in June. I made kits for the students, so they could focus on the piecing techniques. They did a great job and everyone went home with samples of 5 different border patterns to refer back to when they’re ready to add some extra excitement to their quilts.

I will be teaching this workshop at the Madison Quilt Expo in September – kits and all, and I’m hoping it will be a hit! If you’d like to sign up go to:  https://store.wiquiltexpo.com/collections/sit-sews.

I will also be teaching half day workshops on a class I call “Where Do I Start With Fiber Art” (formerly “Parallelisms”). It is based on my book of the same name. To register for that class please go to:  https://store.wiquiltexpo.com/collections/hands-on-workshops.

 

A few days after the Seminole class in Cedarburg, Beth sent me this picture of the project she bordered with the Seminole braid pattern she’d learned in the workshop:

She used a striped fabric in the braid and I think it’s spectacular. Beth said that each length of striped fabric only made 8 units so the braid changed looks every so often. I can’t wait to try striped fabric in my Seminole borders. Thanks Beth!

Tomi was in the class too and she brought along a trio of Seminole dolls she was given by her grandfather.

She had some fascinating information about these dolls. Next week I’ll share their story and how I acquired my own Seminole doll!

Have you used Seminole piecing in your quilts? Do you have any pictures you’d like to share? Please email them to me at .

Landscape Quilts – Child’s Play!

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I’ve been playing with a new version of my Repliqué technique – and it’s great for making picture perfect landscapes.

My Washington grandkids just went home after a 2 week long visit 🙁  . Hanna (who learned to quilt when she was 5 – click here to read that post) told me she wanted to make a mountain landscape quilt for her room. Since I was already playing with this technique, I decided it was time to test it out and see if it was as user friendly as I thought it might be.

I had her find a picture on the internet and we printed it out to size.

She then chose her fabrics. She wanted to make her quilt in purples and I had a gradation fabric in my stash that was just right.

She sewed:

trimmed:

then sewed and trimmed some more:

Because there is no satin stitching step, it is quite quick and easy. Here’s a shot after the final mountain was added:

And here’s a picture of the back:

Next it was time to quilt and bind. She machine quilted over the Repliqué stitching, then sewed the binding to her quilt from the front. We folded and clipped the binding to the back and she hand-stitched it down on the flight home.

She got it almost finished and promised she would complete it at home.

I’m pretty proud of my 11 year old artist – and I think she’s pretty pleased too.

And one more thing – I showed her an appliqué stitch to secure the binding to the back. She quickly turned it into a whip-stitch, and I decided it was fine for her first effort on the back. Then she asked me why hers didn’t look like mine. I explained and showed her the appliqué stitch again. She was off and running. My original stitches run for about an inch to the left of the clip (did I mention Hanna is left handed?). Her tiny whip stitch continued from there for about 2″. I did a quick re-demo and the rest (around the corner and down) is her appliqué stitch (she’s a pretty quick study).

A month ago I asked Hanna’s 5 year old cousin Sommer if she wanted to make a quilt, since Hanna made her first quilt when she was 5. Sommer thought for a moment and replied “no thanks”. After watching Hanna make the landscape quilt during her recent visit, Sommer told me she changed her mind and wants to make a quilt. Stay tuned!